Social Science and Humanities Journal
/
Facebook Addiction among College Going Students: An Exploratory Study at Patuakhali District in Bangladesh
1*Md. Hasnain Ahamad, 2Beplob Chandra Das
1*BBA, Dept. of Management Studies,Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Bangladesh
2BBA, Dept. of Accounting and Information Systems, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Bangladesh
Abstract: - The Facebook has become an essential part of almost every college going students’ daily life and while a large number of students seem to get advantages from use of the Facebook by exchanging information for educational goals, make friends, and other activities. There is no or little study on identifying factors affecting Facebook addiction at Patuakhali District in Bangladesh. Thus, our objective was to overcome this gap. Using survey, this study adopts a quantitative research method. The survey questionnaires were randomly distributed among 105 respondents from various colleges of Patuakhali area at the class time to collect data. College going students have a great time and fun by using Facebook.
However, it is beneficial to social and personal life of users but truly Facebook has some negative effects for its users because of heavy and aimless usages. Definitely, the most important of these problems is Facebook Addiction. This study shows that self-control, parental behavior and academic performance have the significant negative relationship with Facebook addiction. On the other hands, social connection and social isolation have the significant positive relationship with Facebook addiction. It is recommended that college going students should be conscious on any danger that can hamper their valuable career.
Keywords:- Facebook; Addiction; Quantitative Research; Self-Control; Parental Behavior; Social Connection; Academic Performance; Social Isolation.
Introduction
Social networking sites are essential parts of social media have become the most important communication tools. Nowadays, people are finding ways to communicate with friends, family members, co-workers, classmates, and those they have just met using social networking sites.
Approximately, 900 million people use Facebook and this number makes Facebook the most attractive social networking site. Facebook usage of huge masses in a short time has drawn academic attentions and so many qualified researches have been conducted so far in social sciences literature (BALCI & GÖLCÜ, 2013). Facebook was created by Mark Zuckerbeg, a student at Havard Univesity in 2004 as the network to access college students’
information (SZ, OMAR, BOLONG, & OSMAN, 2011). At the beginning, Facebook become a virtual medium for students of Harvard in identifying each
other and making new social relationship. Later, the use of Facebook was spread to other universities students and becoming a public domain in 2006 (SZ et al., 2011).
Undoubtedly, excessive use of Facebook interferes with the real world interaction and communication abilities, while social skills ultimately decrease.
Facebook addiction is the new term invented by psychiatrists as its addiction will damage the sleeping habits, health and interest in studies and interaction abilities of real life (Saied, Elsabagh, &
El-Afandy, 2017).
The addictive tendency is common in all social networking sites and it is more common among the Facebook users. There is a growing number of articles regarding problematic Facebook use including Facebook addiction. However, there is no
universal definition of Facebook addiction.
Considering the definition of addiction and bio psychosocial perspective of behavioral addiction Facebook addiction can be defined as repeated and increased use of Facebook neglecting other activities (academic, occupational, familial and social), deprivation of it leading to distress and an urge to use Facebook in spite of having negative personal outcomes. The addict people may start going out less or spending less time out with friends due to the time they spend on Facebook. While they are in front of the computer, they may remain unresponsive to the things around them (Soron, 2015).
There is no or little study on identifying factors affecting Facebook addiction at Patuakhali District in Bangladesh. Thus, our objective was to overcome this gap.
The Social Media Addiction Phenomenon
The magnitude of the use of these various platforms has become a cause for concern in recent times as this phenomenon has driven many researchers across the globe to undertake studies in the area both from the psychology point of view and the angle of communication studies. Like any other place in the world, users of social media in Ghana can be affected by the Social media addiction phenomenon (Otu, 2015).
The term Social media addiction is used to describe a situation where a person spends too much time by using social media such that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. which negatively affects other aspects of his or her daily life like work, school or relationship with others. Addiction as described by the American Psychological Association refers to a compulsive behavior that leads to negative effects.
In other forms of addictions such as drugs, gambling, video gaming, overeating, etc., people feel bound to particular activities such that they become harmful habits, which then obstructs other important activities in their lives and this can be said of people who use social media excessively.
According to Pavlicek (2013) a social media addict can be considered as one with an urge to use social
media excessively. For instance, engaging in activities like “frequently checking status updates and posts or "stalking" the profiles of other users for many hours” and this behavior or habit conflicts with his/her everyday responsibilities, such as family, school, work or other social obligations.
Statement of the Problem
It is an undeniable fact that social media commands a significant number of users worldwide. It has transformed the way information is received and sent and has greatly bridged the geographical gap that exist between people. The situation is no different in Ghana, especially with the proliferation of smartphones, the number of social media users have increased significantly. Social media has produced a new type of communication among social network groups like family members, friends, acquaintances, school mates, work colleagues among others. It enables people to stay in touch and connect with people with similar interests and ideas.
Social media may have an adverse effect on human behavior because of gratifications derived from its use and studies in other parts of the world have shown that it is potentially addictive (Otu, 2015).
Various studies carried out in different parts of the world to confirm the existence of the social media addiction among people. For certain gratifications Social media users utilize the various platforms such that over a period of time they become dependent on these platforms.
Literature Review
The purpose of this chapter is to review literature that is directly linked to the current study. The Review of related literature has to do with the identification and analysis of past studies or in general, documents that contain information related to the research problem of a study to be carried out.
The review usually describes, sums up, assesses and explains related literature and it also helps in choosing a theory to back the research and helps to define the nature of the study to be undertaken (Otu, 2015).
Social Media Use
There are many reasons why students use social media. Nyland identified the five motives of using social media as “meeting new people, entertainment, maintaining relationships, social events and media creation (Nyland, 2007).” These motives are amongst common engagement of university students who use social media as findings of some studies show. A study by Hinson revealed that postgraduate students of the University of Ghana’s social use of the Internet include “sending and receiving email, socializing through social media (mostly Facebook), chatting, and making new friends (Hinson, 2011).” Students use social media for “connecting with old friends and family members, finding new friends, obtaining or sharing learning materials, receiving update of events, posting information and whiling away time (Young, 2010).”
The socialization feature of these platforms which enables interactive exchange with others in real time and the ability to get close to popular people they adore mostly in entertainment may contribute to their choice and use of social media. Some of these identified motives people engage in on social media have been described as potentially addictive and may therefore lead to social media addiction (Nyland, 2007).The internet in itself is not addictive; instead, the social functions, self- expression, communication, and building of personal ties on the internet are what is addictive (Li & Chung, 2006). Since these are common features of social media there is a very high likelihood that many users are addicted to it.
In another study “Students’ Use of Social Media in Higher Education in Ghana,” they examined social media use among university students using an online survey. Three hundred and eleven sandwich students in the University of Education, Winneba were randomly sampled to participate in the study.
Their findings showed that majority of the students were aware of the existence of social media and they used it for various reasons such as connecting with family members and old friends, making new friends, sharing or getting learning materials,
getting updates on events, sharing information and whiling away time (Apeanti & Danso, 2014).
Social Media Addiction
In the last few years, scholars from different parts of the world have begun giving attention to the internet based addiction phenomenon (social media addiction) and have undertaken various studies in this area. However, majority of these studies focus on the true aspects of addiction in relation to psychology with introductory ones mainly assessing whether internet addiction actually exists (Nauert, 2010) and subsequent ones looking into other forms of internet addiction such as social media addiction.
Communication scholars have also started giving attention to this area of research. Although there is literature on this area of study, research on it in Africa is scanty especially in Ghana. However, it has caught the attention of some researchers in Nigeria and a few studies could be found from there.
In a study titled “The Facebook Addiction Test: A New Tool to Study Facebook Usage” the researchers sought to find out the impact of Facebook obsession on its users. They chose to focus on only Facebook for their study because Facebook was the leading social media site according to a 2010 edition of “The Economist”
magazine, because it is ubiquitous and also because researchers had a specific focus for their study.
They identified that different scales for measuring Facebook addiction have been developed and tested. Their study was built on work done by (Young, 2010) on Internet addiction, but with an important difference i.e. they were interested in the identifying consumers of Facebook who were obsessed with its usage and also to explore the impact this obsession has on the way they behave on Facebook rather than the diagnosis of addiction in a clinical context. They developed and used the Facebook Addiction test (FAT) to carry out their research which was an adaptation of Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT). They believed the FAT had the advantage of focusing on one activity.
A total of 1,438 people was surveyed on their usage of this social media site. Invitations of participation
were sent by e-mail and consumers completed the survey online. To help increase generalizability of the results, probability sampling was used. Their studies found that Facebook Addiction is different from internet addiction. However, like Internet addiction, Facebook addiction appears to be closely linked to interactivity and ease of interaction. They also found that the FAT is able to classify consumers with different usage profiles but most importantly, the FAT can be used to identify consumers with different attitudes and usage of Facebook.
In another study, sought to find out the level of Facebook Addiction among a selection of Nigerian University Undergraduates. The study surveyed the level of addiction to Facebook among selected undergraduate students of these universities.
Stratified and purposive sampling techniques were used in selecting 1000 undergraduate students from four universities in South-western Nigeria - two private institutions and the other two; public. Data was collected using the Facebook Addiction Symptoms Scale (FASS) in the form of a questionnaire. Findings from the study revealed a low level of addiction particularly among university undergraduates in private universities mainly due to internet access in those institutions (Alabi, 2013).
Another study identified the impact of social media addiction among the students of tertiary institutions in Northern Nigeria (Siraj et al., 2015).The researcher also examined the various social media sites used by students the most and the frequency at which they use them using the survey method. Five (5) tertiary institutions in Katsina state were selected out of which 800 students were sampled.
Data gathered was analyzed using frequency count and simple percentages. Findings from the study showed that majority of the respondents use almost all popular social media platforms with Facebook having the largest number of users. He also found that majority of the respondents use these social media platforms mainly for social needs such as friendship and dating.
Another study found that Generation Y is addicted to social media in the field of Facebook, LinkedIn,
and Twitter. The researcher operationalized Generation Y, as “people who have grown up understanding the power of the Internet”. Social media addiction was described by salience, mood modification, tolerance, withdrawal, conflict and relapse. The problem of this study was to determine whether Generation Y was addicted to social media to maintain relationships with their friends, relatives, etc. Results from the study pointed out that Generation Y suffers from three out of the six unique components identified by Griffiths and they are tolerance, salience and relapse. Limitations to the study were the use a convenience sample instead of a random sample which could not allow for generalization of findings (Cabral, 2008).
Methodology of the Study
Using survey, this study adopts a quantitative research method. A set of self-administrative questionnaire was distributed to the selected respondents during the class time. To complete the questionnaires the respondents are given 15 to 20 minutes and collected by the researcher as soon as possible to avoid class interruption. The data collection takes several days to finish. The sample was choosing based on simple random selection techniques. Survey questionnaire was used to collect the relevant information related to the issues of the study. This survey design is widely used because of its inexpensive cost, ability to obtain current information and ability to obtain a great deal of information at one time.
The design of the study required data to be collected from college going students from various colleges of Patuakhali area. The survey questionnaires were randomly distributed among 105 respondents from colleges of Patuakhali area. Responses were voluntary, and those who never had a Facebook account did not participate in the survey. The instrument used in this study is a survey questionnaire which was designed to achieve the research objective. A set of questionnaires consist of 20 questions was developed to investigate college going students’ motives for Facebook use.
The questionnaires are divided into two sections:
Part A contains 3 questions designs to capture the demography background such as age, gender and Facebook use per day (hours). Part B contains 17 questions designs to understand the users’ motives for Facebook addiction (social interaction, parental behavior, social connections, academic performance, social isolation, and Facebook addiction).
Collected data were analyzed by using computer software of Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS version 16.0). Regression test was used to analyze the data with regard to the objectives of the study. For this study, a five percent (0.05) level was determined as the accepted level of significance for statistical analysis.
Variables of the Study
1. Dependent variable: Facebook addiction 2. Independent variable: self-control, parental
behavior, social connection, academic performance and social isolation.
Facebook addiction: Psychiatrists invented Facebook addiction will damage the sleeping habits, health and interest in studies and interaction abilities of real life (Saied et al., 2017)
Self-control: Self-control is the quality that allows a person to stop himself from doing things that he wants to do but that might not be in his best interest.
Parental Behavior: parental behavior means the treatments of parents to their child.
Social Connection: Social connections are the relationship one has with the people around him/her.
Academic Performance: the term academic performance is used to measure the final grade gained by the students.
Social Isolation: By the term Social isolation we mean a state of complete or near complete lack of contact between a person and society.
Hypotheses of the Study
Five null hypotheses are developed to analyze the relationship between dependent variable (Facebook Addiction) and independent variables (Self-control, parental behavior, social connection, academic performance and social isolation). The hypotheses of this study are:
1. H0: There is a significant negative relationship between self-control and Facebook addiction. . 2. H0: There is a significant negative relationship between parental behavior and Facebook addiction.
3. H0: There is a significant positive relationship between social connection and Facebook addiction.
4. H0: There is a significant negative relationship between academic performance and Facebook addiction.
5. H0: There is a significant positive relationship between social isolation and Facebook addiction.
Result and Discussion
Table 1:- Coefficient analysis.
Coefficientsa
Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig.
B Std. Error Beta
1 (Constant) 5.300 .842 6.292 .000
SC -.147 .106 -.143 -1.395 .166
PB -.123 .122 -.103 -1.013 .314
SCN -.003 .073 -.004 -.043 .966
AP .019 .071 .027 .265 .792
SI -.018 .068 -.027 -.260 .795
a. Dependent Variable: FA
The regression result presented in above table 1 indicating that the coefficients of the self-control, parental behavior, social connection, academic performance and social isolation which are 0.166, 0.314, 0.966, 0.792 and 0.795. Self-control, Parental behavior, social connection, academic performance and social isolation have the insignificant relationship with Facebook addiction where p>.05.So, all of those null hypotheses are accepted.
It is clear that if self-control, parental behavior and academic performance increase, Facebook addiction will decrease. On the other hand, if self-control, parental behavior and academic performance decrease, Facebook addiction will increase. It is also clear that if social connection and social isolation increase, Facebook addiction will increase.
On the other hand, if social connection and social isolation decrease, Facebook addiction will decrease.
Conclusion
Students’ motives for using Facebook have become the main influences to the addiction of the social site. College going students largely used Facebook for the social interaction, passing time, entertainment, companionship and communication.
Self-control, parental behavior and academic performance have the significant negative relationship with Facebook addiction. Social connection and social isolation are the motivational factors that contribute more toward students’
Facebook addiction. In fact, college going students tended to view Facebook as a powerful medium of communication and the place for communicating with friends and family members. For connectedness and community the existence of
Facebook seemed to satisfy the basic human requirements. Hence, the more use of Facebook would tend to create a main cause of addiction to the Facebook and it is recommended that college going students should be conscious on any danger that can hamper their valuable career.
References
1. Al-Menayes, J. J. (2015). Dimensions of social media addiction among university students in Kuwait. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 4(1), 23-28.
2. Alabi, O. F. (2013). A survey of Facebook addiction level among selected Nigerian University undergraduates. New Media and Mass Communication, 10(2012), 70-80.
3. Apeanti, W. O., & Danso, E. D. (2014).
Students’ Use of Social Media in Higher Education in Ghana. Innovative Journal, 3(1), 3-9.
4. BALCI, Ş., & GÖLCÜ, A. (2013). Facebook Addiction among University Students in Turkey:" Selcuk University Example". Selçuk Üniversitesi Türkiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi, 1(34), 255-278.
5. Cabral, J. (2008). Is generation Y addicted to social media. Future of children, 18, 125.
6. Hinson, R. (2011). Internet Browsing Behavior of Executive Postgraduate Students.
7. Li, S.-M., & Chung, T.-M. (2006). Internet function and Internet addictive behavior.
Computers in Human Behavior, 22(6), 1067- 1071.
8. Nauert, R. (2010). College students “addicted”
to social media, study finds. In: LiveScience.
9. Nyland, R. S. (2007). The gratification niches of Internet social networking, e-mail, and face- to-face communication.
10. Otu, A. A. (2015). Social Media Addiction among Students of the University of Ghana.
University of Ghana,
11. Saied, S. M., Elsabagh, H. M., & El-Afandy, A.
M. (2017). Internet and Facebook addiction among Egyptian and Malaysian medical students: a comparative study, Tanta University, Egypt. International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health, 3(5), 1288-1297.
12. Siraj, H. H., Salam, A., Hasan, N. A. B., Jin, T.
H., Roslan, R. B., & Othman, M. N. B. (2015).
Internet usage and academic performance: a study in a Malaysian public university.
International Medical Journal, 22(2), 83-86.
13. Soron, T. (2015). Successful management of Facebook addiction in Bangladesh: A case report. Journal of Psychiatry, 18(2), 1000247.
14. SZ, S. S., OMAR, S. Z., BOLONG, J., &
OSMAN, M. N. (2011). Facebook addiction among female university students. Revista De Administratie Publica Si Politici Sociale, 3(7), 95.
15. Young, K. (2010). Internet addiction over the decade: a personal look back. World Psychiatry, 9(2), 91-91.